Spanish 'Pichichi' gunning for goals

You would not normally expect a reputation for falling asleep during Luis Aragonés's tactical briefings, or for enjoying a robust nightlife, to be the qualities of a man emerging as Spain's secret weapon at UEFA EURO 2008™.

Spanish wildcard
Welcome to the world of Daniel Güiza – top scorer or Pichichi in Spain in the season just ended and the man who will step into the breach should either Fernando Torres or David Villa fail to produce the goods in this tournament. That is so long as the 27-year-old RCD Mallorca striker stays awake in the team meetings about Group D rivals Russia, Sweden and title-holders Greece.

Sound sleeper
The incident in question came when Aragonés was in charge at Mallorca. Güiza admits he simply nodded off while sitting at the back of the briefing room. His version is that: "It's happened twice, but with Aragonés it was when I was exhausted. The screen of the television was really small, I could barely see anything and I dropped off. Not once, but twice."

Model pro
His 27 goals for Mallorca this term indicate that Güiza has not only become extremely successful, but also a model professional. However, he concedes there was a time when his fondness for socialising threatened his chances of making it at the highest level, saying: "The night can lead everyone astray once in a while and, although it did to me when I was younger, that's all long behind me now."

Ronaldo comparison
While Güiza is making his finals debut for Spain, with only four caps and no goals behind him, the Andalusian is unfazed by the challenge or by rubbing shoulders with the continent's élite. In his first spell with Mallorca, he was edged out by Samuel Eto'o and Albert Luque, both established internationals, but Güiza is a fighter. He has been relegated, he has been allowed to leave FC Barcelona B – yet here he is with an opportunity to provide the 'impact' goals that could take his country to glory. Just don't ask him if he is worried about competing for the scoring award with a certain Portugal forward.

Fears banished
"I'm not going to pit myself against any of the other strikers, least of all Cristiano Ronaldo, because I'm here to do my own job and to help Spain," said Güiza, who rejoined Mallorca from Getafe CF last summer. "I've set myself the target of getting my first minutes of action against Russia on Tuesday and, if possible, using them to score my first Spain goal. I know some people are already saying we are doomed to fail in the quarter-finals again, but I don't believe in curses hanging over us. We've got the best team and let's prove that by winning. What they say about us doesn't matter one iota to me – Spain have no fear and we are going to achieve something big here in Austria."